By Barbara A. Schmitz
This piece originally ran in the May 2020 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
Bob Herman, EAA Lifetime 61688, has been attending the EAA fly-in convention for 51 years and volunteering for 50 of those years.
“But I didn’t realize I was volunteering those first years until Women Activities Chair Jenny Dyke told me that was what I was doing,” he said. “I helped several years before I knew I was volunteering.”
Bob, of Fostoria, Ohio, said he was a handyman who fixed whatever needed fixing when EAA AirVenture first moved to Oshkosh. He fixed flat tires or buses that wouldn’t run. He has also volunteered at the SUN ’n FUN International Fly-In & Expo in maintenance for 30 years. At Oshkosh, he volunteered driving the Welcome Wagon for the Homebuilts area and worked for Operation Thirst.
Bob, a retired engineer, has also volunteered as an EAA technical counselor, answering questions from welding to how to read blueprints. In recent years, he helped in the information and lost-and-found booths. Hats and sunglasses are regular items turned in, as well as the most popular item, cellphones.
This past year at AirVenture 2019, one man lost his wedding band.
“He was afraid to tell his wife,” Bob said. “But luckily, it was one of the first things brought in, just as we were setting up the booth. He was in shock.”
Bob usually arrives a week in advance of the convention to help set up and stays after a few days to help put things away when he can. So, why does he come back each year?
“I haven’t figured that out yet,” he said. “I don’t move as fast as I used to. I’m trying to figure out when I should call it quits. Probably when I drop dead.”
But Bob said he enjoys the people on the grounds and those he volunteers with.
“I like to agitate people, and try to talk them into helping,” he said. “I give them a hard time just for the fun of it.”
Volunteers make EAA AirVenture Oshkosh — and just about everything else EAA does — possible. This space in EAA Sport Aviation is dedicated to thanking and shining the spotlight on volunteers from the community. Sadly, it cannot capture all of the thousands of volunteers who give so much to the community every year. So, next time you see a volunteer at AirVenture or elsewhere, however they are pitching in to make EAA better, be sure to thank them for it. It’s the least we can do. Do you know a volunteer you’d like to nominate for Volunteer Spotlight? Visit www.EAA.org/submissions.